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Article

26 Jan 2012

Author:
Intl Federation for Human Rights

Importing workers, exporting strawberries: Working Conditions on Strawberry Farms in the Huelva Province, Spain

In the province of Huelva, in Andalusia, intensive farming of strawberries...calls for a large temporary work force for a period of several months. Some 50,000 seasonal workers, mainly foreign migrant workers, are employed on farms each year...The FIDH report, « Importing workers, exporting strawberries »...investigates the working conditions for seasonal workers on strawberry farms in Southern Spain and highlights the human rights impact of the « circular migration » system...the Spanish government has put in place a system whereby workers are recruited in their countries of origin...Workers must commit to returning to their countries of origin at the end of their contracts...Recruitment criteria specify that women must be married with young children, supposedly in order to ensure that workers return to Morocco...The legal framework offers little protection...days not worked are not paid and union representation for these workers is almost impossible.